Mrs Rogerson was a caregiver for "many" years and had "incredible" and "horrific" experiences with CYFS, as it was known then. "It taught us that bad things could happen to good people," she said.
Going through that experience was what prompted her to start the charity, which got under way fully in 2010.
Many people were "mind blown" and "completely confused" by the processes they had to go through when dealing with CYFS, and the charity was about giving those people emotional and practical support, whether by helping with documents or helping them engage with the department.
"Sometimes it's just about aiding in communication between the departments and families. Sometimes it's supporting that family and being there for them all the way through."
Mrs Rogerson regularly works 12 to 15-hour days and rarely has a day off. She said she had nationwide staff who donated as much time as she did for "very little thanks", which was why she was surprised to be nominated for the award.
She said it was important to "be there" for families who had a stigma attached to them following allegations of child abuse.
"Sometimes they might go to the supermarket and someone has heard on the grapevine about an allegation. They get the looks and verbal abuse."
If people who came to them were deemed to be not living a lifestyle suitable for children, FCIS would point them towards help they could get to change their lifestyle.
The charity started out as "literally, like, little me in my living room", Mrs Rogerson said.
"I got my daughter to do the web page ... I thought I would get one or two people needing support."
The number ended up being closer to 50-100 people each fortnight.
"I started to realise this is bigger than I thought, and we do struggle a lot to meet demand."
The organisation receives little funding and few donations, and that was partly to do with the misconception that it supported child abuse, she said.
"We've had an incredible number of wonderful success stories even here in Wanganui, and that does keep us going."
She said it was hard for caregivers to reach out for help when they were under stress, because it would often make the situation worse.
"That's what's happening out there a lot now in the community. People have reached out for help, it's turned around and they lost their kids."
She described the charity as the ambulance at the top of the cliff and the cushion at the bottom.
A new "one-stop shop" was launched yesterday on the charity's website, www.fcis.org.nz, which is an online directory for people needing help.